TECHNICAL WRITING & DOCUMENTATION
In Tech Coordination, we have a team of specialists who produce and manage many different types of technical writing & documentation projects. We provide a broad spectrum of documentation services: from the conversion of legacy documents to developing a whole new suite of documentation for a business from the scratch. We use different types of latest documentation software and hence we could deliver the documents in different media and formats.
We produce our documents in accordance with Australian Standards AS 3876, AS 3897, AS 4598, AS 4258, AS/NZS ISO/IEC 15910, and ISO/IEC 26514
We have technical writing specialists with strong writing skills and exceptional interviewing skills. We project manage the tech writing from instigation and planning to publication. We could also provide creative direction, graphic design, and print management if needed. Our highly capable graphic designers who add a lot of value with custom made changes to the photos/graphics to add an aesthetic value to the documents.
Our technical writing specialists have delivered many confidential technical documents around patented products & services. We generally sign an agreement of confidentiality and hence the confidentiality of your documentation content is well protected.
Our writing services cover a range of documents in engineering, quality, business and tendering domains. They can be broadly categorised as,
We can convert your existing material into an e-learning package, or we can create it from scratch!
Tech Coordination has a very strong internal quality system to ensure the required quality is built into the documents. Generally, for each project, we will at least have one person writing, one person reviewing and one person reviewing. In some cases, the approver will be from the client’s side.
Our team has produced standard operating procedures, engineering reports, user manuals, getting started guides, release notes, business processes, etc. We are expert developers of online help systems and online user guides (in PDF, HTML, and XML formats). We also produce Virtual/Augmented Reality videos, multimedia software tours, and tutorials.
Some of our products include
- Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) manuals
- User manuals
- Brochures
- Service/Maintenance manual writing
- Installation manuals
- Work Instructions
- Policy and Procedure Documents
- Online help systems
- Checklists (Equipment pre-start, Operation, Maintenance)
User Manuals
Tech Coordination has developed many user manuals for various industries. User manuals are called in different titles depending on the audience using the manual. We have writers who are capable of producing high-quality user manuals for both technical and non-technical audience. We have a robust internal quality control system through which always very high-quality user manuals are produced and delivered. Our graphics team will ensure high-quality photos that are altered to suit the needs of the clients.
We have different processes to develop different documents. Below is a typical process that we follow to develop user manuals. We are quite flexible in our approach to change these steps to suit any organisation.
- Study the product in the context of creating the user manual. This is very important as most of the manuals are to be created for a non-technical audience and hence toning the language down is absolutely necessary.
- Gather requirements by interviewing the SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) and discussing with the sponsor. At times, we video record these meetings to ensure we don’t miss any key points and also to ensure we do not disturb the already busy SMEs. At this stage, we categorise the critical and important segments, titles, sub-titles, company documentation standards, version control.
- Capture Photos of the product in all the required angles. This step may not be needed in some cases where the client can provide the photos.
- Edit the graphics as needed. We allow one change per photo in the quote and any additional changes would incur additional costs.
- Develop the document with content for draft submission. Our speciality is that the content developer will always be from a technical background and mostly an engineer who can quickly understand and efficiently translates the content that is suited for any type of audience.
- Internal Review of the draft version. Our charges always include the cost of an internal reviewer who is a level 2 resource. This person has more experience and has a lot of attention to details. We go beyond just proof reading and the entire content with respect to the flow and the presentation will be reviewed at this stage.
- Submit the draft version to the client. We are expected to get the feedback from the client and if needed the document will be edited and re-submitted.
- Update the document, format it for the final submission.
- Internal Review of the final version.
- Submit the final version to the client.
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) manuals
Standard Operating Procedures are used in different industries such as engineering, manufacturing, hospitality, construction and medical. We can either develop an SOP from the scratch or we can update the existing manual based on your requirements. We ensure to follow your organisation documentation guidelines while developing these manuals.
We follow different approaches for different types of documents. The required skill sets are also quite different depending on the type of documentation. However, the process listed above to develop User Manuals is more or less similar to develop many of these documents.
Job Safety Analysis (JSA), Safe Work Method Statements SWMS
JSA and SWMS are safety documents that are used in many construction, engineering and manufacturing organisations. JSAs are used to identify hazards and controls. Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) are one of the mandatory requirements for site visits. These documents typically have step-by-step process needed to address any potential risk in the environment.
These documents need specific expertise and experience in workplace safety risk analysis. We have experts who are vastly experienced in this area who are capable of breaking down the job into basic steps, identify the hazards in each of the steps and put control measures in place to eliminate the hazards
Bid Documents
Tech Coordination tender support team has experience in developing bid documents for different types of projects mostly focused in Engineering and Manufacturing sectors. We can support the entire process of developing the bid documents starting from the collection of information to the submission of tenders.
There are multiple supporting documents/sections that are typically submitted along with the bid document package such as the offer of service, methodology, previous projects delivered, program, insurances, resource plan, cost estimation, and CVs. We have expert technical and project management professionals who can develop these documents independently. We have our own cost estimation templates for bids; however, we could use any formats as desired by the clients. We develop CVs for different professionals as a part of any bid submission. We have experienced CV writers exclusively for tenders.
If you are dealing with many bids and disciplines and finding it hard to gather and collate information, please give us a call. We can collate all the documents, format them together as per your company standards and help you submit winning tender responses on time.
For further details on this, refer to page https://www.techcoordination.com.au/tender-support-documentation/
Service/Maintenance manuals
This is a very common document that is used in multiple manufacturing,
maintenance and asset management organisations. We possess adequate skills and
experience to deliver quality service/maintenance manuals. Our engineers are
capable of understanding the intricacies of any new machinery within a short time
and able to list down all the necessary processes involved in the maintenance of any
equipment/machinery. Similarly, we can produce Installation manuals and Checklists
(Equipment pre-start, Operation, Maintenance) for almost any industry.
Engineering Reports
This is our strongest area as most of the staff are qualified engineers. We can produce almost any type of engineering report such as Engineering Process Specification, Functional Specification, Engineering Test Instructions and many more.
Brochures
Brochures are informative paper documents that are mostly used for advertising. We have creative graphic designers who can design and develop brochures of any type. We are knowledgeable about the traditional offset and modern digital printing, and hence we could tailor our developments accordingly.
Policy and Procedure Documents
We are gaining experience in this area of policies and procedures of an organisation.
We have resources from compliance and policy background who are capable of understanding the policies and procedures of an organisation.
We are not copywriters; we are a bunch of Engineers who are passionate about technical writing.
Our Costing Models
There are two costing models that we offer to the clients and if needed, we could customise these models to your requirements. They are Fixed cost model and Time & Expense model. In the fixed cost model, we assess the volume of work and give an estimation. For example, a user manual would cost $15,000 + GST and it would be paid in 3 milestone payments. This model works best for unambiguous documents and needs minimum input from the client.
To give an indication,
* a manual/document of 20 pages with a complexity rating of ‘low’ would cost approximately $2059*.
* a manual/document of 40 pages with a complexity rating of ‘medium’ would cost approximately $4850*.
* a manual/document of 60 pages with a complexity rating of ‘complex’ would cost approximately $9072*.
* The fees examples above are just a guide of how we charge for technical writing fixed price model and all the fees shown above exclude GST. Just send through your requirements and we will review and provide a quote. Tender support activities do not come under this pricing model.
The complexity is termed ‘low’ when the requirements are straight forward; the necessity of visiting the client is limited (maybe once); the output format is simply a word file or a pdf. The complexity is termed ‘medium’ where 2-3 sessions needed with SMEs; there are more than 10 photos to be taken and professionally edited; 2-3 times review by the client etc. The document is termed ‘complex’ when the product is complex such as mechatronics equipment; the document is more than 60 pages; there are more than 20 photos to be taken and professionally edited; multiple clients reviews, multiple edits needed.
The T & E model is used when the product is relatively new or the requirements are unclear. We recommend this model for the jobs that are hard to estimate. This model is also suitable when a company needs our skilled resources to work with their employees. Our resources are categorised based on their skills and experience. For example, Technical Writer L1 is typically a junior engineer with 2-3 years of experience. A reviewer would be a Technical Writer L3 or L4 having more than 8 years of industry experience.
Our Success Stories
- User Manual for a dental equipment company:
We developed a user manual for complex equipment that was meant to be used by the defence personnel at remote sites. We developed this manual for a dental equipment provider in Australia. The equipment was quite complex to understand as it contains multiple mechanical and electronic controls. This manual was developed with more than 250 pages. 55 photos were captured and professionally edited to use in the manual. The team had to visit client’s site multiple times to keep-up with the design changes that happened on regular basis. This was a very challenging project in terms of the volume of effort, product complexity and scope creep. The client highly appreciated our effort and we consider this as an iconic delivery by the Tech Coordination team.
- Engineering Process Specification for a Rail Company
Tech Coordination team comprises of specialist engineers in rail domain. We are confident of delivering any reports for Rail with ease. Our engineers had to study and thoroughly understand the process before writing the report. The process spec generation also involved consulting a few key stakeholders from the client’s side to better understand the relevant Australian standards that were being applied in the processes. Another very important aspect of this report was to ensure the report file is compatible with the client’s Configuration Control System and process. We have been continuously working with this client for a few years, delivering multiple Engineering Documents and Reports.
- Service maintenance manual for a Rail company
The creation of this manual was quite different from the other service manuals that we have created. The challenge here was to extract relevant info from many different documents, combine and come up with this manual. There were no SMEs to help or guide us. One of the Senior Engineers in Tech Coordination had to work with the author of this manual to ensure we are delivering a quality document. The client was surprised to see the output and not to mention, we were awarded a few more manuals from the same company.
- Web-based help, training & competency assessment
This area was relatively new to us until one of the clients wanted us to get a web-based help developed for the users to access through their intranet. Our Tech Writing team with the help of IT Analysts successfully managed to deliver the web-based help to the client. The client also wanted Tech Coordination to develop an online assessment tool to assess the competency of the users to use certain equipment. This was a new experience to first come up with an assessment methodology and then implement it through the web-based system. We have now delivered a few more projects similar to this and the team is all the more confident of delivering online documentation.